Stark Raving Mad
by Darkest Desire
Summary: The gang goes raving. Slash and silliness abound. Pairings undetermined as of yet.
1. Let's Get This Party Started

Summary: The gang goes to a rave. Slashy and (hopefully) humorous. Pairings undetermined as of yet.

Disclaimer: Needless to say, I do not own FFVIII or any of the characters from it.

Warnings: This fic contains slash. If this bothers you, then you should probably hit the back button right about now. There are also mentions of drug use.

A/N: This chapter is about Squall, Irvine, and Zell going to a rave. I have only ever been to three raves, so I'm not exactly an expert, but I've tried to explain some of the things in the story that some of you might find confusing. There are notes at the bottom of the chapter and numbers throughout the story relating to them for people who are confused. If you know what raves are and understand what's going on, then you can just ignore them. If you have any questions or comments concerning raves and any references in this chapter that I failed to adequately explain, feel free to leave them in a review or email me about them.

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CHAPTER ONE: LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED 

My skin tingles as the cold night air blows harshly against it. I find myself almost wishing that I had worn a jacket, but we'll be inside soon enough—_I hope_—and a jacket would only be a nuisance to carry around all night.

"Hurry up!" I yell over my shoulder to my two companions, tired of freezing my ass off as I wait for them. Why do they have to be so damn slow! "C'mon! It's bloody_ cold_ out here!" I emphasize, stomping my foot, admittedly somewhat childishly, before proceeding to hop up and down in a vain effort to warm myself up.

"Don't worry, I'll warm you up, babe," Irvine replies in his typical perverted manner. I send my best death glare his way. I would slap him…err…_punch_ him, but really, I'm too cold right now to do anything but run towards the nearest heater. Anyway, Irvine seems to get the message.

"I was just joking, Squally. You don't have to be such a hard ass," he comments, trying his best to look at least halfway apologetic.

"You know you like my hard ass," I reply teasingly, though truthfully. Irvine smirks predatorily and lets out a 'Hell yeah!' before I can continue. "But right now I am _freezing_ this ass off, so would you hurry up already!"

Irvine makes a big show out of catching Zell's eyes before rolling his own in a somewhat exasperated manner. "You'd think the Ice Princess would be used to the cold," he comments to the blonde, though still loud enough for me to hear.

I can't help but huff indignantly, causing Irvine to smirk in amusement. "Coming, your highness," he remarks sarcastically, casting a sidelong look at Zell, who merely laughs at his antics. I continue to glare, though the fact that Irvine and Zell are actually moving faster than a snail's pace now keeps me from making any rude comments to the cowboy wannabe.

Finally, we manage to make it the few blocks between the parking garage and the stadium, recognizing the other party goers as they walk swiftly beside us in the same direction as we're headed in their scantily clad and sometimes outrageous outfits.

We can hear the music from clear out here, blaring through the open gate. A smile inevitably makes its way onto my face and for a moment the cold is forgotten. We head towards the back of the line where people are gathering to get their bags checked by the many security guards.

The mass of bodies provides warmth enough while we wait, though Irvine still takes it upon himself to drape an arm around my shoulders. Despite his pervish behavior, I know that Irvine honestly means well and is—_probably_—just trying to keep me warm. Really, he's not as bad as he makes himself out to be.

I allow the arm to stay, though I do give him a warning look. He gives me a startled, innocent glance, as if to say 'I'd never!' I roll my eyes, letting out an amused snort despite myself.

Zell leans in from behind us, putting his arms around both of our shoulders and standing on his toes, sticking his head in between Irvine's and my own so that he can join in on the conversation. "I vote we go to the jungle(1) room first," Zell announces excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and causing his spiked hair to bob up and down as well.

I laugh at his enthusiasm and Irvine lets out a light chuckle. Zell's really just a kid at heart. I suppose that's what we love about him. Irvine continues to laugh lightly for a moment before casually removing his trademark cowboy hat and plopping it atop Zell's head, pushing it down so that it covers his eyes. I can't help but think he looks unbearably cute like that.

"Hold your horses, kiddo, we'll be inside in just a minute," Irvine informs the overzealous blonde with a mirthful twinkle in his eye. He pretends to be annoyed with Zell's behavior, though it's obvious that he's pleased with his excitement over attending his first rave(2).

Zell quickly removes the cowboy hat from his spiky-haired head, glaring at Irvine as he shoves the hat back upon the auburn hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. "Don't mess with the do!" he warns the cowboy quite seriously, hands working with practiced ease to fix the dreaded hat hair that Irvine caused him. Zell can be _really_ fussy about his hair. It's almost funny, especially when we go swimming, though it can get annoying. Irvine and I exchange a look, before cracking up laughing at Zell's expense.

"Hey!" Zell exclaims, pouting childishly, though he'd never admit to it. This, of course, only makes Irvine and I laugh louder, which in turn makes Zell's pout deepen. We're still laughing when we make it up to the guards.

Seeing as how I could hardly fit my ticket, ID, and a small wad of cash into my skin tight leather pants and form fitting shirt, the security guard lets me through with little more than a glance. He takes a bit longer with Irvine, making him remove his hat and patting his pants down a bit to make sure he doesn't have anything stashed there. Irvine wiggles his eyebrows at me in a suggestive manner, sending a glance towards the oblivious guard. I can't help but laugh.

Zell too makes it through the security check fairly easily, though his long cargo shorts are checked thoroughly before he can meet up with Irvine and me again. We head on to the open gate, getting our first good view of the party raging inside. Handing our mail ordered tickets to the door guard and allowing him to check them and make a small rip in the corner before handing them back, we're finally allowed to cross the threshold into another world.

It sounds lame, I know, but I really can't describe it any other way. Despite what it may be like outside, in the 'real' world, with all its prejudices and restrictions, in here nobody judges you or gives a damn how different you are from everybody else. You can let loose without anybody looking at you weird or giving you a bad time for it. It's great, the best feeling in the world. The only way to party.

I let out a content sigh as the music and lights and happily dancing people encompass us, allowing all worries and cares to be set aside for the time being. The electronic sounds course through me, causing my adrenaline to rush, as the bass pounds throughout my body like a second heartbeat. It's pure ecstasy. Speaking of which…(3)

"Let's go find Selphie," I urge Irvine, nearly yelling so that I can be heard over the music. Smiling wickedly, he nods in agreement.

I grab Zell's hand in order to drag him along in our search to find our hyperactive little brunette friend, making sure he doesn't get lost in the crowd as we make our way through it. I clutch Irvine's shoulder, glad that he's leading the way, therefore making him the one who has to push through the mass of bodies.

Irvine leads us to the front of the main room, where the stage is set up, the most likely place for Selphie to be. I haven't seen her yet, but then again, she is kind of short and her usually flashy, bright colored outfits don't stand out in here nearly as much as they usually do. I leave it up to Irvine to find her, figuring he'll have an easier time at it than I would considering his four inch height advantage.

Seeing as how we've stopped now, Zell and I take the opportunity to dance as the music hits a climatic point, while Irvine searches the front for signs of Selph. Finally, he seems to spot her, tapping me on the shoulder and pointing a short distance off to the left. It takes me a moment before I spot Selphie along with some other people we know.

Once again forming a train so that we can move through the jam packed front area, the three of us dance our way over to the cute, yellow clad girl. Selphie smiles brightly at our arrival, hugging both Irvine and I happily before turning to Zell, whom she doesn't really know.

"Your first party?" she asks excitedly, barely heard over the music despite the fact that she's nearly shouting. Upon receiving Zell's answering nod, she embraces him before giving him one of the many bracelets covering the better part of both of her forearms. Zell happily accepts it; I assume he remembers what Irvine and I told him about the practice of giving out candy. When we first tried to explain it, Zell was sort of thrown off by the fact that the bracelets weren't really candy, at least not the kind you can eat(4). I swear, he can be so blonde at times.

Zell slides his gift onto his left wrist before I steer him over to the rest of the gang while Irvine and Selphie head to a place where they can hear better so they can talk 'business.'(5) I watch as the two brunettes disappear into the crowd, heading to the outskirts of the room, away from the blaring speakers. Losing sight of them, I turn back towards Zell, giving him a reassuring smile as he looks uncertainly towards the rest of the gang, obviously feeling uncomfortable joining this group of people that he doesn't know.

"Loosen up," I speak into his ear, only loud enough for him to hear me, as I start to dance. I grab his hand and urge him to join me. He does, though he seems somewhat apprehensive at first. It takes him a few minutes, but he finally loosens up as he looses himself in the music.

A hand suddenly clasps my shoulder from behind, pulling me closer to the body behind me. Just as I start to turn around, wondering who's behind me, I hear Irvine's familiar voice as leans in close to my ear. "Mission accomplished," he tells me; I can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

I allow Irvine to steer me toward a somewhat secluded area, feeling him pause just long enough to grab Zell before leading on. Now in an area where talking to each other is at least halfway possible, Irvine quickly fills us in. "Alright, Selphie managed to get some tan dollar signs(6) this time; they're supposed to be good."

He hands both Zell and me a pill before motioning for Zell to take out the water bottle he brought from one of his cargo pockets. Handing the water over to Irvine, Zell watches as Irvine casually bends down, pretending to tie his shoe, and surreptitiously sticks the pill into his mouth before standing up and taking a sip of the water.

Taking the water back as Irvine hands it to him, Zell follows Irvine's example, pretending to cough as a cover for downing the pill. He takes a few huge gulps of water, handing the bottle to me as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. I quickly swallow my own pill as I scratch my nose, giving the water back to Zell to store in his pocket once again.

"So…uh, how long do we have to wait?" Zell asks, scratching the back of his head, carefully though so as not to mess up his hair of course.

"It'll probably be about fifteen or twenty minutes," I inform the blonde, smiling at the reminder of the fact that this is all new to him. How I love corrupting the young and innocent. I smirk at the thought, inadvertently catching Irvine's eye, the twinkle in it telling me that he's thinking something along the same line. "Come on, let's go back now," I suggest, waiting for Irvine to start moving before pushing along behind him, Zell trailing in the back.

About halfway across the dance floor, we cross paths with Selphie and the rest, apparently heading outside to cool off and take a quick break. Merging together to form one big group, the three of us start back the way we came from and out to the little patio area surrounded by fencing. Heading for an unoccupied corner, I take the opportunity to introduce Zell to everyone.

"This is Zell," I inform the group, "He's the roommate I've told you guys about." Turning back towards Zell, I proceed to introduce everyone else, "The energetic brunette in the yellow dress is Selphie. The blonde haired girl with the dominatrix outfit on is Quistis," here I pause as Quistis rolls her eyes, though doesn't bother voicing any objection. I smile playfully at her before continuing: "Nida's the one smoking a cigarette; he thinks it makes him look 'cool'." Nida glares at me as if to say 'You're one to talk.' I shrug in reply before moving on. "Rinoa's the one with the glittery wings on. And last, but heaven forbid least, there's Seifer, the one leaning against the fence with his arms crossed, smirking like an arrogant prick." I smile as Seifer lets out a derisive snort.

"Nice to see you too, Squally," he comments dryly. Zell glances between Seifer and I, a confused look on his face, as if he's trying to figure out whether or not we're merely playing. I shake my head slightly, silently telling him not to ask; I can hear Irvine chuckling lightly from behind me.

"Don't mind those two," Irvine comments wryly, "You'll get used to their bickering. They're worse than an old married couple, I tell you." I turn around, sending Irvine an unamused glare as he merely smirks back at me unfazed.

"You trying to get on my bad side, cowboy?" Seifer questions with the raise of a blonde eyebrow, casually pushing off of the fence and raising himself to his full height, an impressive 6'2", a full two inches taller than Irvine.

Irvine however doesn't seem impressed, or threatened for that matter. Smirking in a mischievous way that he knows will only tick Seifer off more, Irvine merely shrugs. "Not my fault that you're _touchy_ when it comes to Squall," he says.

I really don't like where this is going, so before the situation can escalate any further, I attempt to break it up. "Where are Raijin and Fuijin?" I ask the group at large, my blatant change of the subject being a tad more obvious than I would like, but whatever. Despite being a diversion, I truly am curious as to where the other two are.

"Oh...I think I heard them mention something about Fisherman's Horizon. Some weekend long fishing trip or something…" Rinoa answers hesitantly, glancing around at the others as if to ask whether she has it right or is way off. Everyone but Seifer shrugs in reply, obviously unsure as to where Seifer's posse has gone off to.

Breaking eye contact with Irvine and turning back to the rest of us, Seifer confirms Rinoa's statement. "Yeah, they went fishing. They invited me to go, but I'm not really into that and all. Plus Raijin mentioned something about some mating season for one of those bugs or insects or whatever he's always going on about. I swear that guy's got some sort of freaky fetish or something…" he finishes with a shake of his head as he reaches out and snatches Nida's cigarette, taking a long drag before blowing the smoke back in Nida's direction like the right asshole that we all know and love. Nida glares in annoyance, though doesn't bother chastising Seifer, knowing it's a lost cause. Instead, he simply takes another cigarette out of his pack and lights it.

I let out an exasperated sigh at Seifer's childish behavior. He really is beyond help…though that's nothing new.

Looking around, I suddenly realize that Zell is no longer standing right beside me. Wondering where he could have gone—maybe the bathroom?—I let my gaze skim along the enclosed patio. Finally, I spot him, chatting excitedly to a group of people on the opposite end, giving hugs to everyone within reach and receiving another piece of candy from a guy with spiked black hair and about fifty glowsticks hanging off of his pair of baggy, black pants.

"I think the E(7) has kicked in," I inform Irvine, nodding my head in Zell's direction. I watch as his gaze travels over to the far corner that I indicated, and a mirthfully look crosses his face as he lets out a slight laugh.

"Guess we'd better keep a better eye on him from now on," he remarks amusedly, glancing back at me, "We should probably go get him and drag him back here," he adds, shaking his head slightly, finding the situation humorous.

I follow him as he strides over to Zell, smiling and nodding a greeting to Zell's new found friends. "Time to say goodbye to your new friend's, blondie," Irvine says, talking to Zell as if he is a small child. Zell pouts slightly before hugging everybody in farewell and letting Irvine guide him back towards our group.

I find myself giggling slightly at the picture they make, an effect I attribute to the E. I hastily cover my mouth to stifle the sound lest Irvine, or—God forbid—Seifer, should hear. I'd never hear the end of it if they did.

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Author's Notes: For those of you who don't know much about raves, the following explanations might help you better understand what's going on in the fic. 

Jungle is a type of techno (electronic music) characterized by a fast beat. Usually at parties, if they are big enough, they have a separate room where they play jungle.

Basically, a rave is a party where they play techno. They're sort of like clubs, except for people seem to be more interested in the music than in getting laid. There's a whole culture surrounding them, including things such as candy and ecstasy, which will be discussed later on.

For those of you who are confused, Squall is going from talking about ecstasy the feeling to ecstasy the drug. In other words, he's going to go see if he can get some.

I tried to provide an explanation of candy in the chapter, but for those of you who are still confused, candy is basically brightly colored bracelets. People buy those little bead kits that you get when you're a kid and make bracelets and bring them to the party and give them to people they meet there.

Irvine's going to buy some ecstasy from Selphie. Yes, Selphie deals drugs.

Tan dollar signs are a particular kind of ecstasy. There are many different types of pills and each one has its own name.

E is just another name for ecstasy. As for Zell's behavior, people tend to get really happy and friendly when on E. It's not uncommon for people to go around giving hugs to perfect strangers.


	2. Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

Summary: The gang goes to a rave. Slashy and (hopefully) humorous. Pairings undetermined as of yet.

Disclaimer: Needless to say, I do not own FFVIII or any of the characters from it.

Warnings: This fic contains slash. If this bothers you, then you should probably hit the back button right about now. There are also mentions of drug use.

------Author's Notes are at the bottom of the chapter.------

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CHAPTER TWO: FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT 

"It's too fucking hot," I comment to Irvine, shouting to be heard, as I stop dancing for a moment and attempt to fan myself with one of the many flyers(1) I've been handed so far tonight.

Irvine, in his usual manner, doesn't miss a beat in his pervish remarks. "_You're_ too fucking hott," he says, smirking as he sidles up to me.

I roll my eyes at him and promptly push him back a bit in order to preserve what little personal space I have. "I'm not joking, Irv. I need to take a break; go outside for a minute or something."

Irvine nods, done with the joking around. "Zell might have some water left," he provides helpfully, looking around for our little blonde haired companion. He spots him and is about to walk over, but I stop him before he has the chance.

"I think I'll just go buy a bottle," I inform the cowboy, "A nice, ice cold bottle," I add longingly, smiling at the thought.

He nods his head in understanding, giving me a small wave as I head off to the refreshment area, pushing my way through the mass of bodies. As I get farther away from the stage, the crowd begins to thin a bit, which is why I am a slightly surprised when I suddenly feel someone brush up behind me, a hand making its way to the small of my back.

Flipping my head around to see who the impertinent stranger is, I find Seifer smirking down at me, seeming quite pleased with himself. I raise an eyebrow in question at him, silently asking what he thinks he's doing. He merely holds up a pack of cigarettes in reply, shrugging idly and acting as if this is the answer I was looking for.

"You're going outside right?" he asks rhetorically, somehow already knowing the answer as only he can. "I can use a break too. Thought I'd join you," he explains unnecessarily, deftly making his way over to where the water bottles are with me.

There's no line at the moment, so it only takes a second for me to get my drink, receiving the water bottle in exchange for two dollar bills. What a rip off, but at the moment I'm too hot and thirsty to care.

We make our way over to the patio area once again, not speaking along the way, it being too loud inside to do much talking. As I open the door and step outside, the cool night air rushes to greet me, feeling like heaven against my heated face.

Seifer leads the way over to a corner, leaning against the fencing and lighting up as I take a couple huge gulps of water. Sated for now, I offer the bottle to Seifer, who trades me his cigarette for it.

I take a long drag, slowly exhaling the smoke and reveling in its scent, which I've unsurprisingly linked to Seifer in my mind. I take another short drag before Seifer and I trade back again. "Those things are going to kill you," I half joke, knowing Seifer hates people criticizing his 'bad habit' as Quistis and Rinoa do constantly.

He lets out a derisive snort, taking a nice long drag of his cigarette in response. "I'm gonna die way before these things ever get to me," he comments in all seriousness, inhaling more smoke.

I shake my head in annoyed amusement at the comment that is just so typically Seifer. "Die young and live in perpetual glory," I say with dry sarcasm, scoffing lightly at Seifer's vision of his future, or lack thereof.

"You have to die young in order to be remembered that way," Seifer tells me profoundly, though I still don't agree with his reasoning. "Besides, who wants to get old anyway?" he asks, though he doesn't really expect an answer, and I don't bother supplying him with one.

We stand in mutual silence for a moment before Seifer suddenly asks a question that I can tell he's been dying to ask for a while. "So are you and the blonde chicken just roommates, or are you sleeping together?" His tone is casual, though I can tell that the question, and what its answer might be, bothers him.

The straightforwardness doesn't surprise me coming from Seifer, though the obviousness does. The E must have loosened his tongue a bit. I'm a bit thrown off, not having expected the question.

With anyone else, I would probably tease them a bit, asking them why they wanted to know and if it would bother them if Zell and I _were_ sleeping together. But Seifer's different. Although he would never admit it, he's sensitive when it comes to things like this.

"We're just roommates," I inform him directly, knowing it as the best approach. "In fact, I'm pretty sure Zell has a crush on this girl that works at the library. He's always in there checking out books, though he never ends up reading them. It's kind of cute actually. But anyway, he's not really my type," I add just to make sure Seifer is convinced, knowing how paranoid he can be.

"I didn't ask for his fucking life story," is all Seifer says in reply, though I know him well enough to know that he's relieved by the news, even if he tries not to show it. "You been hanging out with Chickie and the John Wayne wannabe a lot lately or what?" he asks nonchalantly, easily poking fun at my friends as always. I can tell he's wondering whether or not Irvine and I have hooked up, though Hyne knows I've told him enough times that he should know the answer by now.

I answer him anyway, careful about how I word it in order to assuage Seifer's fears. "I've been pretty busy studying lately, you know with mid terms coming up and all. Haven't really gotten out much with everyone else being so busy…Irvine's been chasing after some girl from his English class, so he hasn't been around much," I provide as casually as I can.

Seifer nods his understanding, familiar with Irvine's behavior. It's one of the reasons he's not too fond of the guy. That and the fact that Irvine and went out for a while, albeit that was over a year ago and never got that serious. Besides, Irvine and I are just friends now.

Seifer seems satisfied with the way I've answered and, interrogation over, snubs his cigarette, signaling to me that he's ready to go back inside. Somehow I had almost forgotten where we were. Only with Seifer could I have a serious discussion like this in the middle of a party; no matter how much E I could never loosen up that much with anyone else. It was like we were in our own little world—it was always like that.

It was odd how things were between us, and I wondered briefly why everything always had to be so serious, so intense, when it came to our…relationship? I wasn't really sure _what_ to call it.

Are we friends? We have this understanding of each other like nobody else, but we are also very competitive and the tension between us is usually so thick that you could cut it with a knife…the word 'friends' just didn't seem right somehow. Frienemies? Maybe…but it's hard to say. I'm not sure that there really _is_ a word to describe the way things are between me and Seifer.

I kind of like that thought. It makes our relationship unique, somehow more real because of it. And, if nothing else, things have always been real between us. Sometimes too real. We've been through so much together, faced the harsh realities of the world. Sometimes I wonder whether Seifer feels threatened by me because of the fact that I know so much about him and his elusive past, something he rarely talks about.

Everyone knows that Seifer and I grew up together and that things were tough for us, but I doubt that they could even begin to imagine just how bad things were. I think we turned out pretty good considering, though friends sometimes get frustrated with the way we seem to shut them out and the fact that we're like 'closed books' as they put it. I think we're more like books written in a different language though, and they just don't know how to interpret us. Seifer and I have this understanding of each other that no one else could ever hope to come even close to. He couldn't fool me about what he's thinking even if he wanted to and I know that I can't fool him either.

Shaking my head in an attempt to dislodge these depressing thoughts, at least for the time being, I follow Seifer back into the building and through the crowd, gripping the back of his black muscle shirt so we don't get separated. Meeting up with the group once more, I blatantly ignore Irvine as he raises a questioning eyebrow, glancing back and forth between me and Seifer.

"Let's go to the jungle room," I suggest to the group as a whole, shouting to be heard over the music blaring from the speakers not ten feet away.

Selphie pouts playfully, pretending to be upset at being parted from stage front spot, before smiling brightly and hopping up and down like the energizer bunny. Grabbing my hand, she practically drags me through the crowd, making her way through easily enough despite her lack of height, as the others attempt to keep up.

We make our way into the Jungle Room in record time, and I stop abruptly, pulling Selphie to a halt, as I check to see if the rest of our group is still behind us. I spot them a little ways off, struggling to make their way through.

"Slowpokes!" Selphie complains, proceeding to drag me to the front of the stage, obviously not wanting to wait for everyone else to catch up. She starts dancing right away, her hair bouncing wildly as she jumps around with unceasing energy. I shake my head amusedly as I watch before proceeding to dance myself.

Glancing up at the stage to see who's spinning, I excitedly realize that it's AK1200 and am glad that I decided to follow Zell's wishes to come to the jungle room first. I would have had to kill myself if I missed _this_.

Losing myself in the fast paced beat, I let motions come to me naturally, not caring what I look like as I dance. I feel someone come up behind me, turning me around so that we face each other as we dance. Opening my eyes, I see that it's Seifer, though I was fairly certain it was him even before I looked.

He smirks at me, though it's a friendly smirk rather than his usual snide one. I smile back at him, brushing my sweaty hair away from my face as I continue to dance.

After what seems like hours, though was probably only about thirty minutes or so, I start feeling overheated once more and long for another water. Grabbing Seifer, not bothering to explain but knowing that he'll get it anyway, I head over to buy a water, noting Irvine and Zell following. I smile at them before leading the way over to a group of couches set up to one side of the main room.

Finding an empty couch, I collapse onto it, leaving room on either side of me so that the rest of the group can sit down. Seifer sits to my right while Irvine sits on the opposite side of the couch, Zell hesitantly sitting between me and Irvine.

"So what do you think?" I ask Zell, referring to the party raging on all around us. He shakes his head, looking a bit bewildered or more likely overwhelmed, before answering.

"It's different than I expected, but I like it. It's way cooler than any other party I've been to," he replies, smiling contentedly as Irvine and I nod in agreement to his statement.

"It better damn well be better than any other party you've been to," Irvine comments, ruffling Zell's hair lightly.

The blonde automatically reaches up to straighten out his hair before stopping midway and letting his hands drop down to rest in his lap once again. "Screw it. It's not like it's not all messed up already from the dancing and sweating and everything," he says, letting out a sigh, though I can tell he's not really all that disappointed.

"I told you not to bother," I laugh, shaking my head at him in amusement. He merely rolls his eyes, leaning back against the couch.

"Tch, whatever," he says, stealing my favorite phrase, as he situates himself more comfortable on the sofa.

"That's my line," I complain, causing him, Irvine, and Seifer to all laugh.

Plopping his cowboy hat onto Zell's head, this time with no objections, Irvine stands up, stretching. "Come on, Zelly, let's go join Selph and the gang again," he suggests, helping the blonde off the couch and sending me a pointed look. I wave them away as I take a sip of my water.

Leaning into Seifer, I close my eyes, resting them for a moment as I snuggle up to the tall blonde next to me. I wouldn't normally do this, but I think the ecstasy is getting to me; it must be stronger than I thought.

Seifer snorts good humouredly and I feel him shift a bit. "What am I, your pillow?" he asks, though without any malice.

I smile against him before nodding my head. "Mhm. You got a problem with that?" I question him rhetorically as he plays with my hair. "That tickles," I complain to him half heartedly, liking the feeling despite the slight tickle.

He chuckles, stilling his fingers, causing me to utter a mumbled complaint. "Come on sleeping beauty, time to get up," he tells me, shaking the arm I'm lying on. "You know Selphie will throw a fit if we don't return soon," he adds, smiling crookedly at the thought.

"Like she'd even notice," I point out truthfully, shaking my head at the thought of the overly energetic girl. "She's probably too busy gulping down Pixie Stix or something," I continue, referring to an inside joke that Seifer and I have about where Selphie's undying energy comes from.

"Yeah, either that or hanging all over Irvine," Seifer says, shaking his head. "How that guy doesn't notice that she likes him I'll never know. I think that cowboy hat he always wears must have done some damage to his brain…if he even had one to begin with," Seifer disses Irvine, smiling to himself in perverse amusement.

I smack him on the shoulder glaring at him for making fun of my friend, though he and I both know that I'm only playing, although I truthfully don't like his animosity towards Irvine. "Give him a break. He and Selphie have known each other for like forever, so he probably has just gotten to the point where he's so used to being her friend that he can't think of her as anything else. And he's not dumb, just a little…oblivious at times," I chastise Seifer, though I'm sure he already knew all that.

"Yeah, yeah," the blonde concedes without emotion, rolling his eyes, "I don't see why you always have to defend stupid Pervy Irvy." I shake my head at the nickname he's given Irvine, trying not to laugh despite myself.

"Stop it," I tell him, chuckling slightly, unable to help it, "He's not that bad."

Seifer raises an eyebrow, not even have to verbalize the 'Oh really?' that I know he's thinking; his look saying it all.

"Okay, let's go," I finally declare, jumping up from the couch all of a sudden, feeling a lot more refreshed. Seifer gives me an odd look.

"Did you find Selphie's stash or something?" he questions with a serious tone as I laugh, suddenly feeling _really_ good.

I don't think his question really constitutes an answer, so instead I merely pull him up and start dragging him back toward the Jungle Room and the rest of our group, acting remarkably like Selphie had only an hour or so before. I laugh as the thought crosses my mind.

Selphie and I were about as different as two people could be in any normal circumstance, though I don't really consider a rave a normal circumstance (even though I go to so many that you'd think it would be). Anyone outside my little tight knit group of friends would probably just about die of shock if they saw me right now. Usually—though I'd never admit this aloud—I act kind of bitchy. 'PMSy' as Rinoa calls it, probably due to the fact that she knows I hate the term. Whatever…

"Are you sure Selphie gave you the same thing as everyone else?" Seifer questions from behind me half seriously. I merely smile back at him.

"I assume she did," I respond nonchalantly, "Though I don't really care even if she didn't as long as I don't feel like shit tomorrow." And that was the truth. At least for the moment. Right now I was feeling too good to care about anything other than the music and the blonde I was dragging along behind me.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* * *

Author's Notes: So sorry this chapter has been so long in coming. I hope you all enjoyed it and thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, though it will probably be awhile because I need to go update some of my other fics in the meantime. 

(1) At raves, people go around handing out flyers for other upcoming parties.

Gullwing Yunie: First off, yes, this is supposed to have some comedy. Secondly, I've gone back and edited chapter one to include various references to what some things are, including an explaination of what a rave is. Just go to the author's notes section and it's all right there.

Angels-Obsession: I know it seemed like I died there for a while. Sorry I never got back to you. I was real busy for a while with work and school and everything, but I'm back now, hopefully to stay. ;)


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